Move to
make MTP Act more stringentNew Delhi, February 25The government has decided to amend
the medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) act to check illegal
abortions, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister C.P. Thakur stated
today.

Ajit Caur
denied visa for conventionNew Delhi, February 25The partisan attitude of Begum
Khaleda Zia government of Bangladesh was once again visible during the
recently held international convention in Dhaka on “Crime Against
Humanity,” the main objective of which was to highlight the political
repression and atrocities against the minority Hindus in the
post-electionperiod.

Judicial
remand for Vikas till March 11Ghaziabad (UP), February 25Vikas and Vishal Yadav, prime
suspects in the sensational Nitish Katara kidnap case, were today
remanded in judicial custody till March 11 even as investigations were
on to confirm whether a half-burnt body found in Khurja belonged to the
kidnapped business executive.

Amarnathan
is RAW chiefNew Delhi, February 25Mr L.C. Amarnathan will be the new
Director-General of the Bureau for Police Research and Development.

Japanese
aid for four NGOsNew Delhi, February 25Japan will provide a $ 330,042 (Rs
1.60 crore) grant to four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for
their grass-root projects in the fields of public health and
infrastructure development.

A
remodelled tramcar that introduced in Kolkata for a heritage
ride seen rolling on track in the B.B.B. Bag area of Kolkata on
Sunday. — PTI

Nobel laureate writer V.S. Naipaul has a word with former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao while Mrs Nadira Naipaul looks on during the Jnanpith Award presentation function in New Delhi on Sunday.
— PTI

Clothes are seen drying on the stone carves of the famous Konark
Sun temple after the Archeological Survey of India recently
permitted free entry for tourists to perform the
Maghsaptami puja for seven days. — PTI

ESIC
staff to go on fast from todayNew Delhi, February 25Staff of the Employees State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC) have decided to go on a three-day relay
hunger strike from tomorrow in protest against withholding of their
promotion.

Examinations
cancelledShillong, February 25The Meghalaya Government has
cancelled the ongoing Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate
(HSSLC) examinations following the leakage of question papers.

In video

Children
are trained at "The Vedic Pundit and 'Purohit Mahamilan'
Kendra " to be priests capable of performing various
Hindu rituals.(28k,
56k)

BJP has
been routed in state polls, including in its traditional power
base Uttar Pradesh, denting its credibility as the dominant
force in national politics.(28k,
56k)

The
crown passed from one prince to another on Sunday when
Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of the late Congress leader
Madhavrao Scindia, won the Guna-Shivpuri bypolls by a margin
of 450,000 votes.(28k,
56k)

A stone
memorial to the victims killed in the December 13 suicide
attack on Parliament unveiled.(28k,
56k)

New Delhi, February 25
The government has decided to amend the medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) act to check illegal abortions, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister C.P. Thakur stated today.

According to the new amendment, a five-member committee under the chairmanship of Chief Medical Officer, will be set up at district levels to issue licences to the places/hospitals for conducting MTP, Dr Thakur said while inaugurating a seminar here on “reproductive and child health — key to population stabilisation’’.

The Health Minister also informed that the government was introducing a bill in the Budget session to amend Pre-natal Diagnostic Test (PNDT) act to make it more stringent and also to include some of the latest technologies of sex determination like chromosome splicing.

He said improved delivery of reproductive and child healthcare would achieve rapid population stabilisation which, in turn, would improve the quality of life of the citizens and pave the way for better human development.

“Reduction in mortality rates through simple interventions such as provision of better antenatal care, early detection and Management of Respiratory Infections can go a long way in addressing the problem of population explosion’’, he stressed.

Dr Thakur also called for the urgent need to make two-child norm mandatory. Emphasising the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the Family Welfare Programme, Dr Thakur said that for the first time, a group of about 30 senior officers had been identified who would monitor six to seven districts in the eight poor performance states so that they can resolve the difficulties faced at the field levels in a prompt manner.

The three-day seminar was organised by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare.

New Delhi, February 25
The partisan attitude of Begum Khaleda Zia government of Bangladesh was once again visible during the recently held international convention in Dhaka on “Crime Against Humanity,” the main objective of which was to highlight the political repression and atrocities against the minority Hindus in the post-electionperiod.

Only a few participants could attend the convention as the Bangladesh Government had issued instructions to its missions abroad not to give visas to the invitees, well-placed sources told this correspondent today.

The invitees who were not granted visas were Dr Ajit Caur from India, Mr Ali Sharif from Maldives and Ms Asma Jahangir, Mr Zaheer Heena and Urdu writer Mr Ahmad Faraz, all from Pakistan.

The convention was held at the Institute of Engineers in Dhaka and was inaugurated by Awami League chief and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a bete noire of Begum Zia.

The two-day convention adopted a six-point Dhaka Declaration which included taking immediate steps to stop the ongoing violence, repression, political and religious persecution.

The convention appealed to the international community to express solidarity and share concern with the victims of the crime against humanity.

Ghaziabad (UP), February 25
Vikas and Vishal Yadav, prime suspects in the sensational Nitish Katara kidnap case, were today remanded in judicial custody till March 11 even as investigations were on to confirm whether a half-burnt body found in Khurja belonged to the kidnapped business executive.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajinder Kumar remanded Vikas, son of Rajya Sabha member D.P. Yadav, and his cousin, Vishal, to judicial custody till March 11 here after they were brought to the city from Dabra in Madhya Pradesh by a special UP police team this morning.

“We will be seeking police remand from the court tomorrow so that we can question the duo in connection with the case,” Ghaziabad SP A.K. Raghav, who headed the special police team told PTI.

The Magistrate at Dabra had remanded the duo in judicial custody till March 7 in connection with a case of possessing illegal cartridges. The Yadav brothers were brought here on a transit remand granted yesterday.

Meanwhile, Vikas Yadav, who is on bail in the Jessica Lal murder case, told reporters outside the court that he had a minor scuffle with Katara “but I never knew who he is.”

Vikas, who was defeated in the assembly elections, and Vishal have been charged with the kidnapping of 24-year-old Katara after the latter danced with their sister, Bharati at a marriage party last Saturday. A charred and disfigured body was later found in the Bulandshahar area.

“I did not know who he (Katara) is. There was an altercation outside the gate (of marriage venue). After that there was no talk, neither did he sit with us. I do not know from where all these reports (of his own involvement) are coming,” Vikas said. Vikas said only later he came to know that Nitish was the person with whom he had some altercation. “Nothing happened beyond this,” he said.

The police has meanwhile sent DNA samples of the body to Hyderabad-based National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) for test after the victim’s mother expressed apprehensions that the half-burnt body could be that of her son.
PTI

New Delhi, February 25
Japan will provide a $ 330,042 (Rs 1.60 crore) grant to four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their grass-root projects in the fields of public health and infrastructure development.

One of the NGOs, involved in providing medical and ophthalmic care to underprivileged people, will be given $ 56,916 to procure sophisticated ophthalmic equipment. Another NGO will be given $ 92,357 for its drinking water supply project. The grant will be utilised for installation of 150 handpumps in 50 villages in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh which would benefit about 50,000 people.

The other NGOs being given the grant are working in the fields of de-addiction and rehabilitation of drug-affected people and in educating and bringing up orphans.

Japan had last year provided an assistance of $ 1,886,000 (Rs 8.5 crore approximately).

New Delhi, February 25
Staff of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) have decided to go on a three-day relay hunger strike from tomorrow in protest against withholding of their promotion.

A statement issued by the ESIC Employees’ Federation said the management of the ESIC had “arbitrarily and autocratically withheld the promotion of the ESIC” employees. The scarce promotional avenues for Group D and Group C employees were generated due to superannuation/retirement only in the cadre of Insurance Inspector/ Manager Grade II/ Office Superintendent etc, the Secretary-General of the ESI Employees Federation, Mr Satpal Sehgal, said.

The federation had been demanding the restoration of promotional process in the corporation, but the management had been sidetracking the issue”, he said.

“To express anguish against the decision of the management, the federation would hold a relay hunger strike on February 26, 27 and 28,” he said.

Shillong, February 25
The Meghalaya Government has cancelled the ongoing Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) examinations following the leakage of question papers.

Chief Secretary J. Tayeng said the government had decided to cancel the exams, conducted by the Maghalaya Board of Secondary Education (MBOSE), last night after a thorough investigation was conducted and the leakage of papers of all three streams confirmed.

The CID had so far identified four MBOSE officials, whose names were not disclosed, to help nail the kingpin involved in the racket.

WIFE OF UKD CHIEF
COMMITS SUICIDE
DEHRA DUN: Uttarakhand Kranti Dal President Diwakar Bhati’s wife, Indu, committed suicide on Sunday on hearing about her husband’s defeat from the Devprayag seat in the Uttaranchal Assembly elections where he lost to Congress candidate Mautri Prasad Naithani. Mrs Indu Bhatt (50) was rushed to the BHEL hospital in Hardwar after she consumed some extravenous substance. She died around 8 p.m. Mr Diwakar Bhatt rushed to Hardwar from Tehri along with his son on hearing about the tragedy.
UNI

EX-MPS'
DEATHS
MOURNED
NEW DELHI: Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Monday after condoling the death of former members during the inter-session period. Members stood in silence for a minute before Rajya Sabha Chairman Krishan Kant and Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi adjourned the Houses. Before adjourning for the day, the two Houses mourned the death of former members Uttam Rao Laxmanrao Patil, S.D. Somasundaram, Bhola Manjhi, Suseela Gopalan, K.T.K. Tangamani, Pramila Dandvate, Bhagu Nandu Malvia and Shiv Prasad Sahu (all Lok Sabha); Kailashpati, Jagbir Singh, Trilochan Dutta and Jagdish Joshi (all Rajya Sabha).
PTI